"That's a pretty fucked-up take on the Garden of Eden."
"No doubt."
"So, the Nazis who lived here wanted to fulfill Hitler's dream of a genetic Garden of Eden," I said. "And the Amber Room constituted their Tree of Life. I assume that means the Amber Room was essential to their efforts. But how?"
"I don't see anything here." Graham skipped back to the section on the Amber Room. "What else do you know about amber? How old is it?"
"Baltic amber is pretty old. It dates back to the Eocene epoch, about forty to sixty million years ago."
"Here's something interesting." He stopped to read a short section of text. "Apparently, the Nazis thought the Amber Room's amber was a bit too old to be from the Baltic."
"Yeah?"
"They dated it to about two hundred and fifty million years ago."
"That's pretty old." I thought for a moment. "But not impossible. The oldest amber known to exist comes from the Upper Carboniferous Period. That was over three hundred million years ago."
"Let's assume the Nazis were correct. The Amber Room's amber dates back two hundred and fifty million years. What's the significance?"
An idea formed inside my head. It scared the hell out of me. "The current geological eon is called the Phanerozoic Eon. It's been going strong for about five hundred and forty million years."
"So what?"
"Scientists divide the Phanerozoic Eon into three geological eras. The Paleozoic, the Mesozoic, and the current Cenozoic." My voice picked up speed. "The switchover from the Paleozoic to the Mesozoic took place about two hundred and fifty million years ago."
"How did that happen?"
"Via the Permian-Triassic extinction event." I took a deep breath. "Otherwise known as the Great Dying."
"Holy shit." His jaw dropped. "I thought Großen Sterbens was just an invented term. Are you saying it was a real thing?"
"I studied it back in college. It killed off the vast majority of all living animals. Wiped out most of the insects too. All told, it was the biggest extinction event in history. Experts have all sorts of theories about what caused it. Volcanic eruptions in Siberia, some kind of impact event, stuff like that." My brain started to churn. "Of course, there's another possibility. Bacteria."
Graham nodded slowly. "An infection. A world-wide infection."
"Some of the infected insects could've been trapped in the amber. Amber is airtight. It would've acted like a tomb."
"Incredible." Graham lowered the book to his lap. "So, the Nazis wanted to extract the bacteria from the amber. Then they wanted to revive it and prepare an inoculation against it."
"It wouldn't have been easy. But if successful, they would've been able to spread it across the globe. A second Great Dying would commence. Only the inoculated few would survive it." My body temperature dropped a few degrees. "Hitler's dream of a Garden of Eden would be fulfilled."
"That explains every aspect of the compound. They extracted the Großen Sterbens bacteria and created potential inoculations for it at Werwolfsschanze. They injected prisoners with those inoculations and then exposed them to the bacteria in the gas chambers. Initially, they buried the dead in that mass grave. Later, they switched to incineration." Graham inhaled sharply. "Do you think their plan would've worked?"
I shrugged. "The Nazis thought so."
"What are we going to do?"
"Same as before. We're going to find Werwolfsschanze. Then we're going to locate and excavate the Amber Room. Is there a map in that book?"
"Yes," he replied. "But we should think about this. Maybe the Amber Room is too dangerous to be allowed to survive."
I stared at him.
"It could wipe out every living thing on this planet, Cy."
"I know."
"Then you know what we have to do."
"We have to find it." I exhaled. "And then we have to destroy it."
Chapter 41
"Do you want to know why people call me Crazy Roy?"
I looked around the common room. Most of the residents had showed up on time for Baxter's town hall meeting. But Beverly was nowhere to be seen. Her absence was beginning to grate on my nerves. "Not really."
"Because I scare the shit out of them."
I glanced into his unblinking eyes. Roy Savala looked like a cowboy, an honest-to-God arctic cowboy. He was tall and brawny. His chin was square and covered with scruff. His eyebrows were thick and untamed. Based on his lined face, I guessed him to be fifty years old. But it was difficult to know where the weathering ended and the aging began.
He wore a brown field coat and boots with spurs. A cowboy hat topped his head. A long strap kept it firmly in place. All he lacked was a lasso and a horse.
"You don't say," I replied.
"You see, people like to think the world is just so. They find comfort in stability, constancy. The very idea—”
"Hey Roy." A man cleared his throat. He was short and a bit on the stocky side. His hair, what was left of it, was thin and wispy. "Do you want us to stick around for the meeting?"
"Yeah." Roy nodded at me. "This is Cy. He works with Beverly and Jeff."
The man offered his hand. "I'm Ben, Roy's younger brother."
As I shook it, I noticed him stealing glimpses at my black eye. I was pleased that he didn't say anything about it. "Cy Reed," I replied.
"We've been trying to get in touch with your friends. Unfortunately, they seem to have turned off their communications devices."
"So I heard." I exhaled. "Is it just the two of you?"
"No." Ben nodded at a man and woman. They looked like a tough lot, sporting hard, determined faces along with an abundance of tattoos. "That's Zoey Sanders and Warren Davis. They've been with us for a few years now."
"You're geologists?"
"Sometimes." He glanced at Roy. "I need to go over a few things with Zoey and Warren. We'll be heading out as soon as Pat is done."
"Good." Roy waited for him to leave. "Now, what was I saying before?"
I rolled my eyes. "Something about how you scare people."
"Ah yes. The truth is that most people fear change. I'm on the opposite end. I think the world could change at any minute. In fact, I welcome it. And so people tend to fear me too."
"That's interesting." I twisted away from him, hoping he'd get the hint.
"Take Fenrir for example."
I twisted back to him. "What about it?"
"I heard about your little encounter. Everyone's talking about it. Now, most experts say large land animals can't survive Antarctica's harsh conditions. But you saw it, fought it. Just like that, our entire outlook on this region changed." He snapped his fingers. "The paradigm shifted."
"I wouldn't go that far. Scientists might have to rethink a few things. But it won't change much."
"It changes everything. And it won't be the last thing to do so. Maybe a UFO will show up tomorrow. Maybe ghosts will appear for all to see. The world as we know it will change someday. And the vast majority of people can't handle that."
I took another look around the common room. Ben, Zoey, and Davis had commandeered one corner for themselves. The Whitlows sat on a couch. Rupert was silent while Holly was overly animated. Dan Trotter and Ted Ayers sat across from them. They kept stealing looks in my direction. Graham stood near the kitchen table, chatting quietly with Aaron Jenner.
Where was Beverly? What about her guide? And they weren't the only ones who'd failed to show up. Jim Peterson was absent too.
I glanced at the doors. Beverly could walk through them at any moment. What would I say when I saw her? Would I accuse her of stealing from me? Embrace her? Ignore her? Something else?